Kurt Hirschfeld | |
|---|---|
 Kurt Hirschfeld | |
| Born | 10 March 1902 |
| Died | 8 November 1964 (aged 62) |
| Nationality | German, Swiss |
| Occupation | Theater Director and Dramaturg |
| Known for | Artistic leadership of Schauspielhaus Zürich |
Kurt Hirschfeld (born 10 March 1902 in Lehrte, Germany; died 8 November 1964 in Zurich) was a German theater director and dramaturg in Zurich.
Kurt Hirschfeld was born on 10 March 1902 in Lehrte, Lower Saxony, Germany to the Jewish merchant Hermann Hirschfeld (1871–1941) and his wife Selma Zierl (1877–1926), the daughter of a rabbi.
After completing primary school in Lehrte, Hirschfeld transferred in 1914 to the Realgymnasium on Aegidientorplatz in Hannover, where he composed poetry and essays.
He studied philosophy, sociology, German, and art history in Heidelberg, Frankfurt am Main, and Göttingen. Beginning in 1930, he worked as a dramaturg at the Hessischen Landestheater Darmstadt. He made his directorial debut with Erich Kästners Leben in dieser Zeit.
He was dismissed from this post after the Nazis came to power in March, 1933. He received a job offer from Ferdinand Rieser, director of the Pfauenbühne in Zurich and emigrated to Switzerland, where he transformed the provincial stage into one of the most important German-language theaters outside Germany.
In 1934, he was dismissed from his post after differences with Rieser and spent time working in a publishing house. In 1935, he traveled to Moscow as a correspondent for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, where he also worked briefly as a directorial assistant for Vsevolod Meyerhold. After the dissolution of Meyerhold's theater, he returned to Zurich, where he helped to found the "Neues Schauspiel AG", which became the legal successor to the Schauspielhaus in Zurich. He served as the new company's first dramaturg and became its vice director in 1946. In 1961, he became the artistic and managing director of the Schauspielhaus Zurich.
Hirschfeld was one of the discoverers and early supporters of the Swiss playwrights Max Frisch and Friedrich Dürrenmatt. He had a special interest in the dramatic works of Bertolt Brecht. Thanks to his personal friendship with Brecht, he was responsible for three premieres of Brecht's work during World War II.
In 1952, Hirschfeld married Tetta Scharff, daughter of the sculptor Edwin Scharff. A year later, his daughter Ruth was born. He died of lung cancer in a sanatorium on the Tegernsee in 1964 at the age of 62. [1] Kurt Hirschfeld was buried in Zürich's Israelitischer Friedhof Oberer Friesenberg. [2]
Felix Salten was an Austro-Hungarian author and literary critic in Vienna. His most famous work is Bambi, a Life in the Woods (1923).
Mascha Kaléko was a German-language poet.
Bibiana Beglau is a German actress.
The Deutsches Theater is a theater in Berlin, Germany. It was built in 1850 as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, after Frederick William IV of Prussia. Located on Schumann Street (Schumannstraße), the Deutsches Theater consists of two adjoining stages that share a common, classical facade. The main stage was built in 1850, originally for operettas.
Lehrte is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 17 km east of Hanover. In the 19th century Lehrte was the most important railway junction in the former Kingdom of Hanover. As of the 21st century, it has a population of 43,000.
Tilla Durieux was an Austrian theatre and film actress of the first decades of the 20th century.
The Schauspielhaus Zürich is one of the most prominent and important theatres in the German-speaking world. It is also known as "Pfauenbühne". The large theatre has 750 seats. The Schauspielhaus also operates three stages in the Schiffbau in the western part of Zürich, the Schiffbau/Halle, the Schiffbau/Box and the Schiffbau/Matchbox.
Peter Zadek was a German director of theatre, opera and film, a translator and a screenwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest directors in German-speaking theater.
Wolfgang Langhoff was a German theatre, film and television actor and theatre director.
Sigi Feigel was a Swiss attorney, President and Honorary President of the Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich (ICZ), and notable for his campaigns against antisemitism and racism.
Friesenberg is a quarter in the district 3 of Zürich.
David Hirsch, known as Wolfgang Heinz, was an Austrian and East German actor and theater director. He served as President of the Academy of the Arts in Berlin between 1968 and 1974.
Teo Otto (1904–1968) was a Swiss stage designer. He trained in Kassel and Paris and in 1926 taught at the Bauhaus in Weimar. In 1928 he became an assistant at the Berlin Staatsoper. Following the Nazis' seizure of power in Germany, he returned to Switzerland where he was resident designer at the Zürich Schauspielhaus for 25 years.
Martin Wuttke is a German actor and director who achieved international recognition for his portrayal of Adolf Hitler in the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds.
Robert Peter Freytag, known professionally as Robert Freitag, was an Austrian-Swiss stage and screen actor and film director.
Erwin Leiser was a German-born Jew and director, writer, and actor.
Hans Bunge was a German Dramaturg, Director and Author. Bunge became famous through his conversations with Hanns Eisler about Brecht.
Maria Arloisia Fein was an Austrian actress who became a star of German theatre and film before the rise of the Nazis forced her departure. During her time in Germany she was largely associated with the theatrical producer/director Max Reinhardt and acted in plays by such writers as Christian Friedrich Hebbel, Friedrich Schiller, William Shakespeare, Aeschylus, and Ferdinand Bruckner.
Karl Paryla (1905–1996) was an Austrian theater actor and director, and later a film maker as well. A lifelong, dedicated communist, his career in the Austrian theater was first interrupted by the Second World War, and then strained by Cold War politics. In the 1950s he began working in East Germany, where he performed as an actor and directed plays and films. An actor trained in the school of Constantin Stanislavski, he is praised for the realism he brought to his performances especially in Johann Nestroy's plays and for his ability to organize large ensembles dynamically on the stage. He is remembered also for his work ethic and his fervent belief in the emancipatory power of the theater.
Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich, commonly shortened to ICZ, is a Jewish community organized as an unified parish in the Swiss city of Zürich. Consisting of about 2,500 members, ICZ is the largest Jewish community in Switzerland. The community provides the Synagoge Löwenstrasse in Zürich-City, a community center and the largest Jewish library at its seat in Zürich-Enge, and two cemeteries.
